Sending the drama: acting for autism

She caught the star, held her fist close to her pink t-shirt and ran to the front of the stage. With six other children and a professional actor scampering after her, the girl in the pink t-shirt stopped abruptly, and gleefully looked down at her scrunched fist.

"Show us the star!" cheered the actor, holding a flashlight high in his right hand. With the wide-eyed children circling around the girl, she slowly uncurled her fingers, and a red star appeared, shining in the palm of her hand.

The children and the professional actors were part of a theatrical experience created for children with autism. The aim is to give parents and their children the opportunity for normality and joy through the experience of performance.

"Kids with disabilities are often really denied access to the arts," said Jacqueline Russell, the Red Kite Project's artistic director.

The Red Kite Project is a movement-based, interactive, and multi-sensory stage production geared for autistic children. Performances take place at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier by the Chicago Children's Theatre, in collaboration with Oily Cart, a London-based theater group committed to developing theatrical pieces for children with disabilities.

Children join the actors on stage to interact with multi-sensory objects including colorful costumes, light and video, fans, water, colorful costumes, towels, music, singing and dance. The seven children at each performance set sail on the Red Kite ship for an imaginary journey to the moon. Once on the moon, the children are met with the lady on the moon, a video image, who learns all seven names as the actors sing a song created for each child. Each journey is tailored to the needs and interests of the individual children.

"This production actually celebrates what's so special and so unique-rather than trying to get them to fit into what our stereotypical society expects of kids," said Russell, who explained that the name Red Kite came from the idea that children with autism are drawn to kites and flags. "So, it just became a symbol for us."

Russell started her career teaching drama to autistic children. Teaching became a personal passion and The Red Kite Project emerged after she heard about Oily Cart's initiatives.

"It was incredible to see that the motivating factor of being here kind of broke down a lot of their sensitivity that they might have in other settings," said Becky Kaufman, a teacher from Giant Steps Illinois Inc., a school for Autistic children, located in Burr Ridge.

"It absolutely captivated our students," said Kaufman. "To see them interact with the adults without any staff [or parental] support, and just be so captivated by people they didn't know, it was as if the TV shows that they love and adore came to them, and they were part of it."

Amy Albert, another teacher from Giant Steps, said "A lot of the sensory stuff that we do at our school was incorporated into the production. The students got a lot out of it."

The five actors have also become emotionally attached to the experience.

"This is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done," said Joshua Holden, one of the five actors in the production. Holden said he had never before worked with children with disabilities in a theatrical setting. "It has such a profound effect. I've seen so many parents in tears because they have never before seen their kids so happy. "

The Red Kite Project flies until its close on May 8. The group will seek funding to continue with performance tours and hope to develop Red Kite into a reoccurring part of the Chicago Children's Theatre season.

"No one in the country is doing this for this community," said Holden. "So many parents are so overwhelmed that someone has taken the time out to consider them in a society that may look down on them in many social settings."

Russell said, "We had one mother tell us that her child had never been invited to a birthday party. So it was the first time that she had ever received an invitation to go anywhere."

WEB LINKS

For more information about autism URL: http://www.theautismprogram.org/default.asp

For more information about The Red Kite Project URL: http://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/red_kite.html ------